Inflammatory and infectious disorders in infancy can be associated with serious morbidity and mortality. Inflammatory and infectious disorders that occur perinatally, for example, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), sepsis, and chorioamnionitis are major contributors to neonatal mortality rates. NEC, the most common gastrointestinal medical and/or surgical emergency occurring in neonates, occurs in 7-13% of very low birthweight infants, and is characterized by bowel injury and intestinal necrosis. NEC mortality rates overall are in the range of 20-40%, and mortality rates for premature infants have been reported to exceed 50%. Surgical intervention is required in about 30% of cases, and surgery-associated mortality is reported to be as high as 50%.
Survivors of inflammatory and infectious disorders of infancy can have significant short-term and long-term morbidities, including metabolic complications, recurrent infections, poor neurodevelopmental outcomes, and poor growth outcomes, that in some instances may require repeated surgical intervention and prolonged hospitalization.